The jaguar (US: /ˈdʒæɡwɑːr/, UK: /ˈdʒæɡjuər/; Panthera onca) is a New World mammal of the Felidae family and one of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus, along with the tiger, lion, and leopard of the Old World. It is the only Panthera found in the New World. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and on average the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. The jaguar has been extinct in the US since the early 1970s.
The Jaguar is the animal-symbol of Brazil, which is popularly called Onça Pintada, which means Painted Ounce . The animal received this title because it is in virtually all ecosystems of the country, such as Amazon, the Cerrado and the Pantanal.